This colorful installation is a collection of crocheted potholders by artist Anu Tuominen. In much of her work, the Finland-based artist redefines the function of basic, everyday stuff. She finds neglected and unloved goods, and by reworking these things, she gives them new life as conceptual art.
As a collection, this crotched wool, formed into a colorful pattern of basic household potholders, functions as a strong visual language. In a review of her work, Ostso Kantokorpi says, “Tuominen’s works present an endless array of parallels, analogies, continuums and hierarchies. She transposes the image into words and the word into images, the public into things private, and the private into the public.”
Tuominen looks at the world with an open mind. She sees the beauty in what others would see as trash. Through this visual attention to the world, Tuominen is able to demonstrate the importance of innovation, even through the smallest item like a piece of wool. She says, “Everything is still as it was, and yet somehow more meaningful than before.”
